


Sleepless Nights

by Uchiha_Blood



Category: Naruto
Genre: College AU, Healthy Polyamory, M/M, Polyamory, Vampire!Sasuke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:06:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5011096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uchiha_Blood/pseuds/Uchiha_Blood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto is going to college! He is very excited to meet his roommate until he finds out that his roommate is a sarcastic, creepy, no-fun-allowed emo named Sasuke. There's something oddly familiar about him, though, and Naruto is gonna figure out what makes crabbypants Sasuke tick no matter what it takes. Who needs sleep, anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Beginnings

"Shino Aburame, room 107. Choji Akimichi, room 108..."

Naruto bounced in his seat, clutching his neon orange duffel bag so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He could hardly believe he was actually in college, about to find out who his roommate would be for the rest of the year. He hoped it would be someone energetic and fun, someone he could be the life of the party with.

"...Sakura Haruno, room 205. Hinata Hyuuga, room 203. Neji Hyuuga, room 106..."

He couldn't wait to see what college life would bring, with so many options. He could eat whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, stay up until two in the morning with no consequences, date lots of pretty girls...

"...Kiba Inuzuka, room 106. Rock Lee, room 108. Shikamaru Nara, room 107..."

He was so lost in his daydreams of the fun he would have with his roommate -- partying and goofing off and all sorts of adventures -- that he nearly missed his own room assignment.

"...room 209. Naruto Uzumaki, room 113. Ino Yamanaka, room 205. Now that you know your rooms, you can head upstairs or down the hall. Some of your roommates are already here, so if I didn't assign someone else to your room, that's probably why."

Naruto grinned, slinging his duffel over his shoulder as he squeezed through the crowd and made a beeline for the first floor hall. 103, 105, 107... Numbers flashed by as he ran, increasing in size until he reached the big grey door at the end of the hall. Number 113.

"One-thirteen," he panted softly. "This is it..."

He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders as he let it out slowly. Then, with a light click, he opened the door.

"Hi, my name i--"

"Oy, stupid! Didn't you see the sign on the door?" a harsh, yet refined voice cut him off with a flick of his tongue.

"Huh?" He looked at the sign. It read 'Do not disturb.' "Oh. Sorry. But this is room one-thirteen, right?"

"Yes, it is," said the pale, emo guy with scary red eyes sitting on the edge of what looked like a coffin. Naruto assumed it wasn't really a coffin but a bed that looked like one for aesthetic purposes.

"Okay, then I AM in the right place. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?"

"Please tell me they didn't assign me a roommate..."

"Uh, yes they did, and I'm pretty sure that 'Please Tell Me They Didn't Assign Me A Roommate' isn't your name..."

"It's Sasuke, if you must know. Sasuke Uchiha," he said coldly, turning his gaze from a copy of War and Peace to the window in disgust. Naruto could see several piercings in the pale boy's ears as well as a couple in his nose. 

"Nice to meet ya, Sasuke!" he said cheerfully, extending a hand to shake. Sasuke ignored it.

Naruto sighed, turning to the empty bed on the other side of the room. He set his bag down and began to unpack. Clothes in the dresser, shoes on the floor by the door, textbooks on top of the desk, a single photograph of his parents on the nightstand, and a big orange quilt on top of the standard-issue white sheets. There. He was all set. 

Upon turning around, he found Sasuke inspecting the photograph that he had so carefully placed on the dresser. 

"Hey! That's mine!" he protested, trying to snatch it back. Sasuke scoffed, dodging the blond's feeble attempt to grasp it. 

"These your parents?" he asked, indicating the photo.

"Yeah."

"Huh. How come they weren't here to drop you off?"

"They died in a car accident while driving me home from the hospital."

"Oh. Sorry." The picture was returned to its place very carefully.

"Nah, it's fine," Naruto said. "You didn't know. So, where are your parents?"

"Assassinated by government officials when I was eight years old."

"Yikes. Sorry I asked... Guess that means we have something in common, though."

"Mm." 

The room was silent for a few uncomfortable minutes before Naruto couldn't bear it any longer. He shifted slightly, tucking his hands in his pockets. 

"So, uh, do you have a picture of your parents? I-it's okay if you don't wanna show me--"

"I do, actually," Sasuke replied, reaching down with a black-gloved hand to open the lid of the coffin-bed Naruto had noticed earlier. On the inside of the lid were a number of items including doodles, ticket stubs, song lyrics scrawled on scraps of notebook paper, and a single photograph of a man dressed all in black standing next to a woman holding a newborn baby with a curious toddler poking out from behind her skirts. The woman looked strangely familiar, but Naruto couldn't quite match the face to a memory.

"Is that you?" Naruto asked, pointing to the baby.

"Yeah. The little guy hiding behind my mother is my brother, Itachi. He runs the LGBT-friendly coffee shop on Second Avenue now."

"Cool! I mean, uh, y'know, it's cool that he's doing something like that."

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, softly closing the coffin lid. "Apparently there's some big gathering before dinner, so I guess we should get going."

"Sure," Naruto replied, tugging his shoes back on and following the dark-haired guy out the door. That was when it occurred to him that he still hadn't asked about the coffin. He'd have to do that later.


	2. Awkward Conversations

"Where do you wanna sit?" Naruto asked, struggling to balance his plate of spaghetti, garlic cheese bread, and salad, a can of root beer, and a dish of Jell-O. 

"I was hoping to sit alone, actually," Sasuke replied, carrying only a bottle of cranberry juice. "But if you're going to sit by me, I suppose I'd like a corner table away from the window."

"Okay... Er, why don't you lead the way?"

Sasuke sighed, effortlessly weaving through the crowd to the gloomiest looking table in the room. It was situated furthest from the ceiling lights, the windows, and the center of the room. It took Naruto a little while longer to make the same journey, as he didn't want to spill his food on himself or others. Once he managed to sit down, however, he didn't hesitate to initiate a conversation.

"So, um, what's with the coffin?" he asked after taking a big bite of pasta.

"Excuse me?"

He swallowed. "The coffin. You know, in our room? Not that it isn't kinda cool, but even for an emo guy that seems a little extreme..."

"Right, that... I suppose you ought to know, since you're taking up half of my room now. I'm a vampire."

Naruto choked on his cheese bread. "Wha--?!"

"I'm a vampire. See? Fangs," he said dully, making sure no one else was looking before quickly flashing his sharp canines.

"Whoa, dude! You're not serious?"

"I am completely serious."

"So you actually sleep in that coffin?"

Sasuke sipped his cranberry juice. "Yes, I do."

"Dude, that's sick! Isn't it hard to breathe in there, though?"

"It would be, if I actually had to breathe."

"Huh. Makes sense, I guess. Any other stuff I should know about vampires, seeing as I'm your roommate and all?" 

"You still want to be my roommate?" Sasuke asked, gently brushing his thick, dark fringe away from his sharp, red eyes.

"Well, yeah, sure! You seem like a pretty cool guy under all that darkness," Naruto admitted, licking a bit of frosting off his fingers as he finished his donut.

"If you say so... Let's start with myths. I am not immortal, but given that I was not mortally wounded at any point, I would very likely live a great deal longer than the average human. A stake to the heart, for example, would likely kill me, but it isn't the only way to kill me. A knife or a bullet to the same place would do just the same. Sunlight won't turn me to dust, but if I am not careful I'll get a pretty nasty sunburn. Mirrors do reflect my image because I am a physical being. Any questions so far?"

Naruto shook his head. Most of that made sense to him.

"Good. Now, as you know, vampires drink blood. Those who are uncomfortable drinking human blood directly from the source have several options: blood donated for medical purposes, animal blood, or iron supplements, since it's the iron that's the important part. Personally, I stick to human blood or if I'm desperate, carnivore blood."

"Ew..."

"Drinking blood? Yeah, I suppose the concept does sound a little gross."

"No kidding... So, like, what about your eyes? Are they anything special, or just to let other vampires know you're, like, one of them?"

"I suppose telling you that would be a good idea, especially considering I haven't had blood in a while. If a vampire has just fed, their eyes will be a charcoal color, which later turns to maroon, then brighter and brighter red until the entire pupil disappears. When that happens, they lose their vision and must rely on smell and hearing to find a source of blood before they go blind permanently. That's called Bloodlust because very few vampires are able to maintain control after losing their vision. The scientific term for the phenomenon is hemopsychosis."

"Hemo-what?"

"Hemopsychosis. Blood insanity."

"Huh. So like, how long can you go without blood before you go blood-crazy?"

"It really varies between individuals, but for me it's about a month with an iron-heavy diet."

"So, like, you can eat normal food?"

"Technically, yes, but too much solid food gives me a bad stomachache. That's why I drink a lot of cranberry juice--it tastes good, it's rich in iron, and it sort of looks like blood, too."

"Oh, okay... One more question: can vampires get drunk?"

"No."

"Seriously? Not even, like, a little buzz?"

"Nope. Not even if I drink the blood of someone with a high alcohol content. Drugs don't affect me, either."

"Ah, man, that sucks! No wonder vampires are so moody and emo."

"Yeah. Not to mention your human friends are going to die a lot sooner than you."

"Couldn't you just turn them?" Naruto asked. "Into vampires, I mean."

"It's not that simple. The ritual of biting and injecting the virus is simple enough, but the rate of survival is extremely low and each vampire only has enough of the virus in venom form to turn one human. Mythology says that only your soul mate will survive the ritual, but that's only a fairy tail thing."

"Jeez, you sure have it rough!"

"Yeah."

"Yep..."

The conversation trailed off, leaving Naruto confused but more informed and Sasuke self-conscious and a bit thirsty. Neither said a word to each other on the way back to room one-thirteen.


	3. The First Night

Sasuke lay nestled safely in his coffin, maroon silk pajamas delicately caressing his pale skin as he stared up at the smooth, white ceiling. The lights had been turned out long ago. Only the gentle hum of the air conditioner and the faint rhythm of Naruto's steady breathing filled the dark shroud engulfing the dorm room. Shadows of vague, warm memories danced through the night air. Everything was still, tranquilly so.

Everything, that is, except for Sasuke's mind. Thoughts and memories swirled and flashed before his mind's eyes, drawing him in and yet driving him out. Despite the fact that he, a vampire, did not need as much sleep as the average human, he would do anything at this given moment for the blissful release of slumber. 

He could not stop thinking about the blond boy peacefully snoring away on the bed not five feet from his coffin. This seemingly normal guy--typical jock, blond, muscular and tanned--hadn't so much as batted an eye at the fact that his roommate was a vampire. In fact, he had seemed quite pleased by the very thought of it: apparently being a monster was "cool" in his crystal blue eyes. 

Those blue eyes, watching in utter amazement and admiration his every move, sparkling under the lights of the cafeteria. Those eyes were filled with such energy and passion that anyone who looked into them could scarcely tear their eyes away. Every time Sasuke closed his own eyes, those blue ones would appear in perfect detail, right down to the friendly creases in the outer corners and the long blond lashes that flickered over the deep blue pools of ethereal magic.

"Oh hell no," he breathed as the realization hit: he was attracted to the blond. 

No; it was more than that. There was a sense of déjà vu, the sort that one feels whilst sitting on the edge of a lake in the middle of a forest, gazing off into the distance and remembering someone you met long ago, or perhaps in another life. A distant memory, faint but full of meaning. 

This wasn't merely attraction--it was a full blown crush. And he had only met the handsome fool just hours before. 

Frustrated, confused, and tired, Sasuke turned to the one method that always put him to sleep: the lullaby his mother used to sing to him as a child. He sat up, reached out toward the nearby table, and grabbed his iPod and earbuds. He found the playlist he was looking for, snuggled back into his coffin, and closed his eyes. A delicate, almost otherworldly voice began to sing:

"Close your eyes, close your eyes little bird,  
You are safe here, I give you my word.  
Mother's wings will protect you as you fly  
Into the land of dreams by her side

Close your eyes and let the darkness be your light  
As the shadows whisper in the night  
They are calling, calling your name  
But the voices are never the same

Close your eyes and lose your fears  
Angels will come and dry your tears  
With wings as soft as gander's down  
Embrace them with a smile, don't frown

Close your eyes, close your eyes little bird  
You can rest now, rest assured  
That tomorrow when you arise  
There will be angels in your eyes"

As the last trembling notes echoed through his mind, Sasuke finally found that heavy, comfortable, about-to-fall-asleep feeling. He smiled, fangs just barely showing as he sank down deeper into blissful rest. His last conscious thoughts were of his mother's tired, but loving smile and his roommate's warm, kind eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The song lyrics used in this chapter are my own. Please ask permission before copying or using them for any purpose.


	4. Keeping it Classy

It was the first day of classes at Konoha University, and Naruto couldn't wait for the day to begin. Unfortunately, he had a very, very lazy roommate. 

"Sasuke, come on, wake up! It's time to get up!" he said, looming over his coffin, fully dressed and grinning like an idiot.

"Hmmphhnnnph," Sasuke replied into his pillow.

"Dude, come on, please? I know for a fact we have the same first class, and it starts in half an hour!"

"Nnnnnnnnmmmph."

"Bro, please. I need you, man. You know this campus way better than I do."

"Mmmmph."

"Bro."

"Mmn."

"Bro."

"Hnnnnhghgggghhhh."

"Bro."

"Hnnnnnnn."

"Brooooooo."

"Phhhhmmmph."

"Brooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bro bro bro bro bro--"

"Fine, fine, I'll get up! Just stop calling me 'bro' why don't you?" Sasuke snapped, muttering a few choice words under his breath as he sat up. 

"Okay, then... Pal?"

"No." He stood up, smoothing out his hair a little. 

"Buddy?"

"No." He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Friend?"

"No." He took off his silk pajama bottoms and replaced them with black skinny jeans.

"Amigo?"

"Those mean the same thing, idiot." 

"So is that a yes?"

"No!" He shook his head as he unbuttoned his shirt, letting it slide to the floor as he stretched a little.

Naruto couldn't help but stare at the flawless, marble-white muscles that rippled with every move his roommate made. Dark swirls of ink covered much of his back, shoulders, and chest in patterns of flames, birds, and skulls. 

"It's rude to stare, you know," Sasuke said, snapping him out of his trance as he turned around to grab a shirt. That's when he saw it.

"Yo, dude, is that a tramp stamp I see?"

Sasuke froze, having momentarily forgotten that that particular image of a skull and crossbones was located in the precise location that it was. He cursed, knowing that Naruto would make assumptions about him based on that tattoo alone.

"What does it matter to you?" he asked coolly, flipping through the shirts in his dresser like they were pages of a magazine. 

"Nothing. Just didn't know you were that kind of guy."

"Is that a problem?"

"Uh, no, I just--"

"If it's not a problem, then why did you bring it up? 

"N-no reason, I ju--"

He was now fully dressed in tattered black skinny jeans, a Walking Dead t-shirt, a black leather jacket with a small guitar pin on the right lapel, and navy blue Converse hi-tops. Running his hand through his thick, dark hair one more time, he headed for the door.

"Well, are you coming?"

Naruto, still a bit dazed by Sasuke's intoxicatingly harsh words, stumbled after the darkly clad figure as he strode confidently down the hall with a look on his face that could kill. People moved aside as Sasuke approached, whether they were mid-conversation or not. No one, not a single person, dared to mess with Sasuke Uchiha. 

After a brisk walk through the plaza, up the North Hill, and down a flight of stairs into a dungeon-like building built directly into a cliff, even the athletic and energetic Naruto was a bit winded. Sasuke, however, was unaffected. He took a seat in the back corner of the room, indicating the desk to his right for Naruto to take. There were a few whispers as Naruto sat down, but those were soon silenced with a firm glare from Sasuke.

"Hello, class! I'm Miss Satōko, and this is my Creative Writing and Literary Analysis class. If you're supposed to be in a different course, now is your chance to run off to wherever you need to be... No one? Very good. Let's get started. Today, we're going to start off with a little poetry analysis exercise, just so I can see where you're all at. This will be a partner exercise, so find someone to work with while I dig the poems out of my bag. You'll all get different ones, so there's no cheating."

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke. He nodded. Naruto scooted his desk over so that they could work together easier. 

"Now, I know this may seem like a childish way to start, doing a partner project," Miss Satōko continued as she handed out copies of the poems and a variety of highlighters. "But you'll have to do a lot of group work in most careers, so this will help you get used to that. That aside, all of these poems are by one of my favorite poets: Amaya Tenma. You'll end up reading her work quite a bit in this class." 

The pixie-like woman continued to speak about annotating and color-marking the poem, but neither Sasuke nor Naruto were listening. They were both busy reading the poem in front of them. It was a short piece titled "Little Brick House," and it read:

"Ivy chains crawl up the walls  
Of the house at Willow Falls  
Although through years bricks have crumbled  
And broken; the falls still tumbled  
On and on through rocks and boulders  
Wide as an army man's shoulders  
Yet in the namesake willow's boughs  
An ancient crow sits and caws  
From dusk until first light of dawn  
Long after the little brick house is gone."

"Hm. I've read this one before," Sasuke murmured, reaching for the purple highlighter. He marked the words 'years', 'crumbled', 'broken', 'still', 'on and on', 'yet', 'ancient', 'long after', and 'gone'. He then made a little scribble in the same color in the margin of the page and labeled it 'time'. Reaching for another color, he began to mark words related to nature in green, action verbs in yellow, and rhyming words in orange. The rhyme scheme of ABAB was marked out in black ink, as well as comments regarding the context of the poem. 

Meanwhile, Naruto just sat in stunned silence, completely lost. He was an athlete, not a poet. Words like "connotation" and "enjambment" meant nothing to him. The diligence with which his roommate worked, however, was almost unbelievable. He had only ever seen the laziness and indifference that the vampire allowed the world to see, and he could tell that Sasuke's passion for writing was so true and genuine that he couldn't hide it behind a bored expression. Maybe he could try to bond with him over this and he'd be less of an ass.

"So, uh, Sasuke, I don't really know much about poetry, but you seem to know what you're doing. D'ya think you could maybe try to explain stuff as you go so that I'm not completely in the dark?"

"Mm, I suppose I could try. So, you see..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, the poem within the story is my own work. Please do not claim it as your own.


	5. Getting Along

It was now a month and a half into the first semester, and the two unlikely roommates had established a routine. Naruto would get up at seven to shower and get dressed, then come back to the room and wake Sasuke around seven-twenty. Seven-thirty saw them stop at the café in the building next to their dorm so that Naruto could buy something to eat, and by seven forty-five, they were waiting in their seats for Miss Satōko's class to start at eight. At about nine o'clock, their first class ended, and they parted ways. Sasuke headed to the library on the north side of campus to study (or get distracted and read classic literature), while Naruto headed to the Biology Department on the south end. At ten, Sasuke packed up his books and walked diagonally across the plaza to his SFX Makeup class, and Naruto headed for the gym. At noon, they met for lunch (at least, in Naruto's case) at the cafeteria, and within the hour, they were on their way to Shinobi War History in the Namikaze Building. At three, Sasuke had a course in Advanced Drawing, and at four, Naruto went to an Anthropology class. Dinner saw them at the cafeteria again, and afterwards, Sasuke headed back to the room to read (currently, Bram Stoker's "Dracula") while Naruto headed out with some other friends to party or hang out.

"Dude, you're still awake? You don't have to wait up for me, man," Naruto wheezed as he flopped on his bed with a heavy sigh. Sasuke could smell the liquor on his breath from across the room.

"I'm not. Vampires are nocturnal," he replied without his eyes ever leaving the page.

"Well, you don't sleep during the day, so you're technically not. I'm a biology major, Sasuke. I know what nocturnal means."

"Actually, I am. I just don't need as much sleep as you do. Probably about half as much."

"Man, that's gotta be nice," Naruto thought aloud, kicking off his jeans and climbing into bed.

"Actually, it gets a bit boring. There is such a thing as too much free time."

"Yeah, right," Naruto scoffed, turning off the light on his bedside table. Sasuke scowled, having lost his reading light.

"I'm trying to read," he spat, dark eyes narrowing in irritation.

"Yeah? Well I'm fucking tired and I want to sleep. Use your phone as a flashlight or something if you really want to finish your dumb book," Naruto growled in reply, though his words were a bit muffled by the blanket over his head.

"I did not catch a word of that, but if you're going to be a prat, I might as well try to get some rest." And with a thunk of his coffin lid, Sasuke curled up into a ball--as best he could within a coffin, at least--and shut his eyes. 

For a while he lay awake, replaying the conversation he had just had over and over in his mind. He cursed himself for being so uptight, but what was done was done. There was nothing he could do for it now other than to hope that the blond was drunk enough to forget the evening's events entirely.

Just as Sasuke was teetering on the edge of deep sleep, however, a sharp pain in his gut caused him to throw the lid off his coffin, sitting up somewhat doubled over his middle. He cursed under his breath, reaching for his phone. He checked the date: October 29th. Exactly 34 days since he had last fed. While that was a new personal record, it was also a really bad sign. 

The first time he had fed after coming to college, it had been a cool, rainy afternoon. He had slipped into the Medical department and snagged a bag of blood from storage. No one had noticed him, nor the missing blood. It had gone as smoothly as it could have gone. Right now, however, he knew that the Medical department would be locked, and with hemopsychosis setting in fast, his options were very, very limited.

Another wave of hunger pains hit hard, forcing a raspy groan scraping its way out of his parched throat. He cringed at the sound, trying to stand up. He stumbled, struggling to keep his balance as he tried to make his way toward the door, night vision blurring red. Just as a pale, trembling hand grasped the doorknob, the lights came on.

"Graaaah!" he hissed, trying to shield his eyes from the blinding white glow. Heartbeat pulsing like a bass drum in his head, he staggered backward into the wall and slowly slid to the floor with a groan.

"Sasuke? Is that you?" Naruto asked sleepily, considerably more aware of his surroundings. The effects of the alcohol had begun to wear off, though he was nowhere near fully functioning.

Sasuke said nothing, clawing at his eyes. They ached from the light flooding into them and from the pulsing headache that was worsening by the millisecond. Massive tremors wracked his body, cracking and popping his joints with every twitching convulsion.

"Oh, sorry," Naruto said softly as he turned off the main lights and switched on his table lamp instead, keeping the dimmer at the lowest setting. "Is this better?"

Still trembling, Sasuke's hands froze mid-claw for a few minutes before slowly falling into his lap. He blinked, trying to focus his erratic vision on the dimly lit figure perched on the bed. The light from the lamp was still uncomfortable to look at, but at the very least he could still tolerate it. Everything was bathed in a deep, rich red, as if someone had painted every surface in the room with fresh blood. Blood..! Blood, rich in iron, pulsing through the blond's veins at a rapid pace, thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump, louder and louder until it was all he could hear.

"Sasuke? Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto said, snapping his fingers in front of his roommate's face. 

Sasuke blinked, then rasped a single word. "Blood..."

"Blood?"

Sasuke nodded, gritting his teeth. The urge to sink his fangs into flesh was becoming almost uncontrollable, and he knew that if he opened his mouth even a crack he wouldn't be able to stop what would happen next.

"Oh, right, right! The whole vampire thing, right?"

Another stiff nod. 

"Um, okay, shit, I can't get you anything from the Bio Labs at two thirty-seven in the morning, and I don't think I can catch a squirrel for you, so, um..." He paused, tugging off his Konoha Krushers t-shirt and tilting his head to one side. "I guess this is your only option, huh?"

Sasuke blinked, leaning forward for a moment before quickly leaning back against the wall, shaking his head. This far into the early stages of hemopsychosis, he knew the risk of hurting or killing the blond was too great. 

"Sasuke, come on, you have to do it and you know it! Why won't you bite me? Is there some sort of weird side effect to it that you haven't told me about?"

He shook his head.

"Is it too weird to bite your roommate?"

Shake.

"Is it because I'm a dude?"

Shake.

"So then what? Do you not want to hurt me, or..?"

Nod.

"Oh, so that's it, is it? Well, I've only known you for a month or so, but I already trust you. I'm not afraid of you, Sasuke. I know you won't hurt me."

Sasuke swallowed hard, wincing at the raw, cracked feeling in his throat. He looked up into Naruto's eyes. The blue eyes shimmered in the faint light, earnest and trusting. That was all he needed, it seemed, because the next thing he knew, he was fangs deep in a drowsy blond's neck. The bloodlust was gone, or insignificant enough at least that he would be able to manage it. He swallowed, pulling his mouth away quickly. He licked his lips, then the wound, stopping the bleeding. 

Naruto was barely conscious, but it was nothing a few hours of sleep wouldn't. Then, he tried to get Naruto to stand, although he eventually resorted to scooping him up in his arms and dumping him unceremoniously on his bed. As an afterthought, he did his best to tuck him in, making it seem as though he had passed out after a drunken night of partying. He hoped that the healing qualities in his saliva would reduce the wound to something akin to a hickey. If it did, the blond would likely believe it was a souvenir of his late night partying.


	6. Broken Image

"Ah, man, that was one wild party last night!" Naruto exclaimed as he shuffled back into the room, hair dripping wet from the shower he had just taken. "My head is pounding like hell, and there's like a zillion hickeys on my neck..."

"Oh really," Sasuke replied, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "Tell me more. I'm so interested."

"Well, there was this one chick with blue hair and snakebites, I didn't catch her name, but she--you're not really interested, are you?"

"Not at all," he said. 

"Can you at least help me find out who she is? I want to talk to her again."

"Why would I do that?" Sasuke asked, meticulously cracking his neck, back, and knuckles.

"I dunno, because you're my friend? Come on, please? I gotta talk to her."

"Alright, fine. Did she have a tattoo of a spider on her collarbone?"

"Uh, I think so. I couldn't see the whole thing, but I know she had a tat there. Why, do you know her?"

"Yes. Chinatsu Gushiken, goes by Natsu-chan. She's in my SFX class. A natural with gore. She has a girlfriend, I think."

"Oh. Well, uh, do you know where I can find her?"

"I'll talk to her during class, invite her to sit by us at lunch," he said, hurriedly shoving his books into his bag and grabbing a maroon hoodie. "Don't worry about it."

"Ah, sweet! Thanks, man, you're the best!" 

During Creative Writing, every word about Amaya Tenma's poetry that left Miss Satōko's mouth went completely over Sasuke's stream of conscious thought. The only thing on his mind at that very moment was Naruto. He was glad that last night's hemopsychosis had slipped away from the blond's mind, but at the same time, he was a little disappointed. He knew that Naruto wasn't into guys, particularly emo vampire guys. He tried to tell himself that simply being his friend was enough for him, but every time Natsu-chan crossed his mind, jealousy flooded his senses like the overwhelming scent of cheap floral perfume coming from the girl two seats in front of him.

As soon as class was over, he left without a word for the library. He took up his usual place in the dark corner behind the Mathematical Theory books, a place often untouched by any other students, and pulled out his sketchbook and a pen.

Unfortunately inspiration was failing him entirely, and he had to have something done for his class at three that afternoon. He frowned at the blank page, twirling the pen between his fingers like a baton. Nothing. He sighed, leaning back against the exposed brick behind him, flicking his eyes around the room. He could just sketch the bookshelves and the vaulted ceiling above, but that didn't have a real meaning behind it. And besides, he had already done that last week.

Frustrated, he turned to the cracked windowpane overlooking the baseball field that had been crudely reinforced with clear mailing tape. At that exact moment, a vivid, but fleeting memory of the first time he had truly gazed into Naruto's eyes flashed past his mental monitors. 

That was it!

Even before the smirk on his face had blossomed entirely, the ink had begun to flow from his pen onto the page at a desperate pace. His hands could hardly keep up with his thoughts, making his hands shake as he drew. 

Soon, a doll-like form with cracked porcelain cheeks began to appear, and the cracks spread from the doll onto the page itself, as if the doll were only an image, a figment of imagination, a fantasy upon a broken surface. The doll had smooth, round features except for the unruly hair. Light and flowing, the short locks defied all sense of logic. The edges were frayed, as if made of old string. The doll's clothes were tattered, too, and the ceramic skin--where it wasn't cracked or missing--was smudged with dirt. The only parts of the doll that wasn't scratched or dirty were the eyes. 

The eyes were bright and lively, almost real. They almost shimmered on the page, full of life and love and longing. Although it was all drawn in the same jet black ink, one had a feeling from just a single glance that those eyes were bluer than any blue they had ever seen before. 

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his sore wrist as he looked up at the clock. Nearly ten. Quickly, he scrawled his initials on the corner of the page, closed his sketchbook, and tucked it into his bag. He had to get to class, even if he didn't want to. He had made a promise, and he wasn't the type to break a promise. 

"'Eeeeeyyy, the Blood King is here!" a playful, yet intelligent voice called out over the pre-class chaos, announcing Sasuke's arrival to the SFX room. Being a vampire, he knew quite a bit about blood, which gave him an advantage when it came to using the fake stuff to make someone look like they've just had their throat slashed or a bullet through their leg.

"Well, if it isn't the Queen of Gore," Sasuke replied mock-bowing to the blue-haired girl perched on top of a desk--Chinatsu.

"Very funny, Sasuke. Very funny," she said, rolling her eyes. The older girl pursed her dark blue lips, blowing a bright green bubble as the spikes of her snakebite piercings glittered under the lights.

"Ever the drama queen, Natsu," he replied. The pair often worked together on projects, and today was no exception. Convenient for him, he supposed. "So I heard the party last night was pretty wild, wasn't it?"

"It did get a little crazy, yeah. Why do you ask?" 

"It seems you left quite an impression on my roommate," he said nonchalantly, dabbing liquid latex on Natsu's lower arm for a gunshot wound.

"Did I? Well, I talked to so many people, I'm not sure I'd remember him," she replied, inspecting the black-varnished nails on the hand that wasn't being gored up. "What's his name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

"Hmm. Doesn't ring a bell, but then again, liquor'll do that to ya."

"Blond, not too much shorter than me, kinda muscular, tanned... Any of that sound familiar?"

"Dude, this was a frat party. There were tons of blond, tan, athletic guys there. You ought to know that, even if you never go to parties--"

"Blue eyes. Bluer than your hair. Really blue," he added quickly, half-praying that she wouldn't remember.

"Oh, yeah, that guy with the crazy blues? I remember him. If I wasn't in steady, consenting relationships with Hana, Masaru, and your brother, I'd have banged him... Unless you've got a thing for him?"

"No, no, I was just--"

"Yep. You do. You totally do. I can see it loud and clear, Sasuke. I know my gaydar and I know you. You got the hots for him."

"Whether or not that is true is beside the point. The point is that he wants to speak with you on some matter that he has failed to disclose to me as of yet," he said coldly, letting fake blood drip down her wrist before carefully but firmly stopping each drop with a q-tip. 

"Whoa there Romeo, easy with the q-tip! I don't need actual bruises, man."

"Sorry," he said, gently stopping the last blood drip. "The only reason I brought this up was because I was going to offer to let you sit by us at lunch today."

"Seriously? Alright, sounds rad to me. Can I bring my babes? Your bro was going to join us for a group date thing today, and I'd rather not cancel again..."

"Sure, sure. I doubt Naruto'll mind." He hoped not, anyway. And besides, wouldn't seeing Natsu with her partners deter Naruto from pursuing her?

"Sweet. I'll let them know," she said, carefully turning around so as not to disturb the latex and blood on her arm. "Yo, Hana! Masaru!"

"Yo, Natsu! What's up?" asked a chubby brunette with thick curls and black-framed glasses. Her hands were covered in fake blood.

"Yeah, what's up?" a petite black boy echoed, flipping his multicolored dreads out of his face.

"Little change of plans for our lunch date, guys. Some freshman guy wants to talk to me. Itachi's baby bro's roommate. So we're gonna hang with the baby bro."

"Oh, how cute!" the black boy gushed, earning a playful smack from the brunette. "I'm Masaru, by the way. One of Natsu's partners."

"And I'm Hana," the brunette added, cracking her neck simply by rotating her head. For having a rather cherub-esque face, she was surprisingly intimidating.

"I'm Sasuke. Nice to meet you," he replied casually. "So you're the three that my brother's dating, are you?"

"Yep."

"Yeah!"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, our table is going to be a little bit crowded today, isn't it?"


	7. Crowded Thoughts

Pale, coffee-scented fingers closed over his eyes as he walked over to the table where Naruto was waiting. Before Sasuke could react, a husky, familiar voice spoke just above a breath.

"Guess who?" said the voice with a twinkle of amusement.

"Hello, Itachi," Sasuke deadpanned, prying the icy fingers off his face. "You're a dick sometimes, you know that?"

"That's my job as your older brother, isn't it?" Itachi teased, grinning a fanged grin.

"Yeah, whatever. Just dial it back a bit in front of my roommate, why don't you? I have a reputation to maintain, you know."

"Sure, sure--"

"Incoming!" Masaru yelled, running up behind Itachi and hopping up onto his back. He was closely followed by Hana, who snaked her way under his left arm and Natsu under his right.

"Hello, cuties," Itachi purred, then headed toward the food with partners in tow.

Sasuke leapt over a chair in order to get ahead of them, rolling his eyes. Typical. No one was taking this seriously except for him.

"Whoa, man. You said you were only inviting one person to sit with us, not four!" Naruto exclaimed with a mouthful of mashed potatoes, having seen their interactions.

"I know, and trust me, this wasn't my idea."

"I'd believe it," Naruto agreed. "But the blue-haired chick is the one I want to talk to."

"Natsu. She's poly."

"So, like, she's dating multiple people?"

"Yes, exactly. Actually, they're all poly, and they're all dating each other."

"Oh, wow! That's gotta be hard."

"Actually, I've been told it's not so bad. They all live together in a house just off campus. You know who Natsu is, of course, and the others are Hana, the chubby one, Masaru, the tiny one, and my brother, Itachi," he explained.

"Wait, that hipster guy was your brother? The one with the ponytail?"

"The one and only."

"Damn... Is he a, y'know..?"

"A vampire? Yes. And so is Hana."

"Huh," Naruto said, thoughtfully chewing on a chicken wing.

Suddenly, Sasuke was unceremoniously scootched around the leather seat of the round booth until he nearly shoved Naruto right off the edge. The table wasn't made for six people, which was rather obvious now. 

"Hello, there. I hope my brother has already somewhat introduced us, but if he hasn't--"

"I have."

"--if he hasn't," Itachi repeated, "I'm Itachi, and these are my partners."

"Hi! I'm Masaru!"

"I'm Hana."

"And I'm Natsu. You said you wanted to talk to me, blondie?"

"U-uh, yeah. I, um, just wanted to thank you for last night..."

Itachi, Hana, Masaru and Sasuke exchanged glances, each curious and a bit concerned for various reasons. What had happened last night?

"Oh, that? No problem, kid. Any time," Natsu replied, digging her navy blue lipstick out of her bag. 

"Natsu, dear, is there something you want to tell us?" Itachi asked, setting down his salad fork.

"What? Oh! No, no, you've got it all wrong!" Natsu exclaimed, stifling a laugh. "See, this adorable little freshman was chatting with some guys our age when the topic of bisexuality came up and a few of those dickheads started throwing dice and rocks at him. I happened to be nearby and gave them a piece of my topaz-studded brass knuckles to the gut. The most intimate thing that happened between us was when blondie here cried into my sweater."

"Oh," Itachi said, then started to laugh. Masaru and Hana joined in too, and so did Naruto.

"Oh," Sasuke echoed, blinking in surprise. Now that he thought about it, however, it actually made a lot more sense. He didn't really know Natsu very well despite working with her every day, but he knew his brother had an uncanny ability to judge someone's character. He should have realized that Itachi would never date someone who was unfaithful.

"Yeah. Good thing he doesn't wear makeup, otherwise he'd have completely ruined my brand new sweater with snot AND mascara," Natsu joked, setting off another wave of laughter--this time with Sasuke included.

"Well, you can't really blame me for wondering," Sasuke added, cracking a smile. "I mean, Naruto DID tell me they were hickeys, not bruises."

"Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me for not wanting you to worry or anything. I mean, you can be pretty scary when you're mad, Sasuke," Naruto replied, jabbing his elbow into the vampire's ribs.

Sasuke exhaled deeply, closing his eyes and letting his dark fringe fall across his prominent cheekbones. He inhaled, silently tending his muscles. Then, before anyone could speak, he whipped his head around and snarled right in Naruto's face.

"Grrrraaahhhh!"

"Yeep!" Naruto yelped, flailing his way into a disgruntled heap on the floor. The indignant pout on his face was enough to get even Sasuke laughing in his expense. 

The youngest and most socially avoidant vampire at the table seemed to realize something at that moment: sometimes, having an audience--even if it was only your brother and his partners--wasn't so bad after all. And following that realization came a second epiphany: if you want to know the truth, just ask.

Now wasn't the time, but perhaps he would try to find the right time and place to ask Naruto out. He figured he might as well live a little while he was in college, because he knew that doing so later on in life would be difficult even for a vampire.


	8. The Best Laid Plans of Gay Vampires

The wind howled and scratched at the windowpanes, sending raindrops splattering in all directions. Crows cawed in the distance, their cries echoing between the brick and stone buildings. Everything was gray and cold, almost lifeless. The dark sky added to the gloominess of the chilly November Tuesday, but Sasuke was unaffected. In fact, he seemed to be in a better mood than usual. Why? Because his plan was in motion, and so far, everything was going perfectly.

"Geez, teme, why are you so damn cheerful today?" Naruto asked, shaking the water out of his hair and slicking it back out of his face. "I hate rainy days."

"You wouldn't hate it so much if you were highly sensitive to sunlight," Sasuke fibbed, praying that the blond wouldn't catch on.

"Oh. Right. Good point."

Of course, he fell for it. It wasn't entirely untrue, either, because Sasuke was fond of rainy days, especially for that reason. 

"Earth to Sasuke! Hello? Sasukeeeeeee--"

"What?" he snapped, jerking back to reality.

"You want anything?" Naruto said, as if he had said it at least once before. He indicated the food counter and the drink cooler. 

"No, I'm good."

"Okay."

For a while, Sasuke sat in silence while Naruto ate and talked about his morning. He heard every word, but none really stuck in his mind because his mind was more focused on his plan. He would wait until Naruto was done eating and then get him talking about something completely irrelevant. Then, he would slowly direct the conversation towards their friendship, and eventually, he would--

"Hey, this might be kinda sudden, but d'you wanna go out some time?"

Sasuke blinked, staring at the blond incredulously.

"Didja hear me?"

He watched as his plan was stolen right from under his nose in awe, stunned by the blond's nonchalance regarding the subject.

"I-is that a no? Cuz if you want, we can totally forget that ever happened--"

But this was what he wanted, wasn't it? So he couldn't let this opportunity slip away.

"As in a date?" he asked as casually as he could, heart pounding in his throat.

"Uh, yeah, that's kinda what 'going out' means..."

"I see... Did you have anything in particular in mind?"

"Uh, well, you told me about that café where your brother works, and, um, well, I guess I kinda figured, er..."

"I'll save you from your senseless babbling and let you know that I was actually planning on asking _you_ out later today, so I suppose that would make my answer a yes."

"What, really?"

"Really. So, when were you thinking of having this date?"

"Uh, maybe Saturday?"

"What time?"

"Maybe around noon?"

"Works for me." 

As they picked up their things and headed for the door, Naruto paused to dump his garbage in the bin and set the tray on top of the precariously perched pile. He then turned to his friend, a slight tinge of pink on his bronzed cheeks. 

"Um, since we're both going to Shinobi History, can we walk together?" he asked softly, fiddling with the zipper of his raincoat.

"We always walk together, dobe," Sasuke replied.

"No, I know, but like..." he trailed off, staring at his shoes.

"Oh," he said. He reached over and took the blond's hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Is this what you meant?"

Naruto nodded, grinning sheepishly. Sasuke shook his head, hiding a smile in his maroon scarf as they stepped out into the courtyard just as the sky began to clear. Squinting in the change in light, Sasuke could just barely make out a distant rainbow. 

"Now if that's not a sign, I don't know what is," he quipped, then joined Naruto in a fit of laughter as they walked to class hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the hiatus! I am still not entirely sure if I will finish this piece or not, but as of right now, here is one more chapter.


	9. The Alabaster Kitten

"Sasuke, are you ready yet?" Naruto called, having been forced to wait outside the door of the room he shared with his date for the evening. Said date was, much to his annoyance, was taking forever to get ready. It was embarrassing enough to have to deal with the homophobic comments regarding their relationship, but to be stuck in the hallway in a tangerine dress shirt and neatly pressed cargo pants was absolutely humiliating. 

"Just a moment, sheesh," Sasuke replied, quickly adjusting his thin black tie--the one tie he owned, mind you. The door opened, and he stepped out in a crisp black suit accented by a maroon dress shirt and shiny black shoes. The punk vampire had even removed the majority of his piercings for the occasion.

Naruto could hardly keep from staring as he offered a hand. He felt quite underdressed. "What, no leather jacket? No combat boots?"

"At The Alabaster Kitten? Are you kidding? They'd turn me away at the door."

"Oh... Um, would they turn me away dressed like this?" Naruto asked, biting his lip. He wanted their second date to go much better than their first. 

"No, I don't think they will. In fact, I won't let them," Sasuke replied, casting a wicked glare upon the sniggering bystanders as he planted a kiss on his blushing boyfriend's cheek.

Once they were seated at a small, intimate table by a back window of the classiest restaurant in town and had ordered their meals and were sipping their drinks, Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. Naruto looked up at him quizzically, but he shook his head dismissively. It wasn't important. What was important was that tonight would be a night to remember.

"Say, Teme, how'd a poor college student like you afford a reservation at a place like this?" Naruto asked after a while.

"Naruto, you can't just ask those kinds of questions. It isn't polite."

"No, I know that, but honestly, I'm curious. And plus, I'm your boyfriend. You gotta tell me."

"Well, alright. You see, my second cousin owns this place, and he said I could bring anyone here for free if I give him a week's notice and we make sure to tip the waiters."

"Oh. Wow."

"My brother and his partners have taken advantage of that same offer countless times, and since they interrupted our last date at the coffee shop where Itachi works, I made sure to tell them not to come here tonight."

Naruto laughed, thinking back to how Hana, Masaru, and Natsu had pestered them with questions and spilled their drinks all over him. Poor Itachi had had his work cut out for him that day. "Yeah, smart move."

"I did what I had to do," Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes. "Here comes our food. Don't make a mess."

"I won't, jeez..."

The waiter, a rotund brunette dressed all in black bearing a nametag with 'Tenma' on it, swept up to the table with two heaping plates of food. "One sirloin steak, medium rare?"

"That's mine, thank you," Sasuke replied, trying not to salivate as the delicious dish was set before him. Being a vampire, the rich, bloody steak was a real treat.

"And the Fettuccine Alfredo must be yours, then," Tenma guessed, setting the steaming cheesy noodles in front of Naruto who nodded enthusiastically in reply.

"Mmm, this is really good!" he declared halfway through slurping up the pasta. 

"I can tell you like it," Sasuke replied, reaching over with a napkin to wipe a bit of sauce off his boyfriend's nose. 

"Thanks, mom," Naruto teased, earning a harsh glare from Sasuke as his tongue whisked away a stray droplet of blood from his lips.

Once they had finished their entrees and desserts--a turtle sundae for Naruto and a cranberry-strawberry tart for Sasuke--they made sure to leave a generous tip for Tenma before heading out into the cool spring air. A walk in the park, kisses on the bridge over the river as the sun set, and a very impulsive decision on Sasuke's part to make love--or rather, allow Naruto to fuck him senseless--in a variety of places including a secluded clearing in the park, a dark alleyway behind a dumpster, and in Sasuke's coffin eventually ended with the pair curled up on Naruto's bed, satisfied and content.

"I never want to let you go," Naruto whispered drowsily, burying his face in Sasuke's chest.

"I won't ever let you go," Sasuke replied, drifting off to sleep with a smile on his face.

And so Sasuke's sleepless nights of longing became sleepless nights of belonging... Among other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end! It is a bit rushed, but I wanted to move on. I hope you liked it!


End file.
